Her senses slowly started to come back to her, she was laying on the hard ground, a stone digging into her lower back. She took stock of her limbs, muscle ached but nothing was broken. She groaned sitting up her hand going to her head when it started thrumming, she opened her eyes squinting at the faded light emitting from the canopy of leaves above her.
"Take it easy Kate, you hit the ground pretty hard," Cassandra handed her a bottle of water.
"Thanks," Kate took the bottle and gulped down half of it in a couple of seconds, "How long was I out?"
"A couple of hours," Cassandra dug through the bag pulling a granola bar from it. She offered it to Kate but the idea of food was enough to make her stomach turn. Sighing she looked around them, she couldn't remember passing out there, it was a small area not more than twelve feet wide. They hadn't made it to the portal, she was still in Artemis' forest and Hekate hadn't spoken since she had come to her senses.
Closing her eyes she tried not to panic and reached down inside herself looking for her goddess. It took a few minutes but she finally found her and her magick deep inside her, it was like a small ball of energy that she couldn't quite get a grip on. It was weird not hearing her voice, she had gotten so used to sharing her mind it was sort of lonely not having her there.
Kate's face must have seemed a little sad because Cassandra reached out putting a hand on her shoulder, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, Hekate just wore herself out fighting those assholes, she is going to need a minute," Elani and Aithan had both come and rested their heads on her lap so she could pet them. She ran her fingers through their soft fur, it was so soothing she started to relax. Hekate was just tired, she would be fine after some time to recharge.
A rustle from behind Cassandra had both wolves' heads jerking up their teeth bared, then just as quickly they rested their heads back in her lap. Who or whatever was there didn't seem to bug them. Still, she got to her feet swaying a little, her hand shook as she slid the knife from her boots and palmed it. Cassandra had come to stand behind her and the wolves stood and flanked either side.
"Okay, whoever is there come out I'm tired and not a huge fan of being surprised," she said hoping she sounded much braver than she felt.
"Relax mortal," a familiar voice said, the branches shook and Artemis surfaced a smile across her face. Kate didn't relax she gripped her dagger tighter, without Hekate's magick to help her she felt vulnerable.
"Why are you here?"
Artemis' gaze narrowed and she crossed her arms, "This is my forest, I go where I please, why are you still here?"
Kate had to fight not to roll her eyes, "That's not what I meant, and we are still here because Hekate couldn't quite make it to whatever portal she was looking for before my body gave out." She slid the knife back into her boot and reached out behind her gripping the trunk of a tree and slowly lowered herself back to the ground. She was pretty sure Artemis wasn't going to smite her and the forest had started spinning.
Artemis dropped her arms and let her hands rest on top of Elani and Aithan who had come to tell her hello.
"I will show you where the portal is, I don't need any more trouble brought to my home."
Kate's jaw clenched, "It wouldn't have come in the first place if you hadn't taken Hekate wolves from their home. And I am not leaving until we get Hekate's body back. You have it, take me to it and we will leave."
"No."
"No?"
"No, I will not take you to Hekate's body mortal, and you shouldn't want me to, nothing good ever comes from a mortal seeing a god in their full glory."
Kate's brow furrowed, "But I have been talking to gods all day and nothing bad has happened yet."
Artemis chuckled under her breath.
"What's so funny?" Cassandra, who had sat as close to Kate as she could without actually sitting in her lap. She was so terrified of Artemis, Kate was surprised she had spoken up at all.
Artemis' laugh cut off and she glared at Cassandra with so much hate Kate put a hand out and pulled her friend even closer.
"Why are you laughing?" Kate repeated the question.
Artemis' eyes flicked back to Kate and the hate faded, "You have a goddess living inside of you, do you know what happens to a vessel when her god leaves her?"
Kate thought, she had watched as her grandmother had faded from the mortal world but there hadn't been anything too extreme. Then she remembered a story her grandmother had told her when she was little, it had been about Herakles, her eyes widened.
"So now you understand why I refuse to take you to her body, but I will help you leave my forest, besides you brought filth with you and I want her gone."
Kate's jaw dropped open, what was her problem with Cassandra anyways? So what if her brother didn't like her there was no reason to treat her so poorly.
"No thanks, we can make our way on our own," she got to her feet, grabbed her bag, and patted her legs calling the wolves to her.
"It wasn't an offer, I want you out and it will be faster if I take you there myself," she raised a hand stopping Kate's protest, "Arguing is only going to make this take longer. Follow me and try to keep up."
They trudged through the forest only stopping a few times so the mere mortals could catch their breath and drink water but it was worth it as they approached two large cypress trees. Between them was a swirl of whispy black smoke, starlight flickering deep inside it.
"Finally," Kate said stopping to catch her breath, she felt almost back to her old self but she still hadn't heard Hekate and her magick felt like water, it was there but she just couldn't get a grasp on it.
"It might have been quicker if you had just let me use my magick on the wolves, we could have ridden them and been here in a heartbeat," Artemis snarked, "There's the portal, please go, tell Hekate when she is ready she can come and retrieve her body."
Kate rolled her eyes, "Cassandra, are you ready to leave?"
Cassandra only nodded and made her way closer to the portal. She hadn't said more than a few words the entire way there.
"Okay, let's get out of here before Ares' spawn shows up," she stalked to the portal, dragging Cassandra close behind her, "Is there anything I need to know before going through here? It's not going to send me to Tartarus is it?" she asked Artemis only half joking.
"No, all you need to do is think of a place in the mortal realm and it will take you there."
Kate nodded and took a calming breath envisioning her living room, the feel of the carpet, the smell of the pine candles and sage she burned, she gripped Cassandra's hand tightly, whistled for Elani and Aithan and they stepped through the portal and back to the mortal realm.